Del Oro boys wrestling team falls in semifinals at D-1 team championships

The Del Oro boys wrestling team competed well at Lincoln High School of Stockton Saturday in the Division 1 Team Dual Championships.

Overall, eight D-I league champions were there.

Representing the Sierra Foothill League, the Golden Eagles were seeded fourth and in the first round of competition they defeated the SJAA league champions from Lodi High.

"Our team came ready to wrestle," said coach Dave Sanchez, whose team recorded a 69-6 victory. "We won 13 of 14 matches."

The Eagles then moved to the semifinals where they were defeated by the No. 1-seeded Vacaville Bulldogs from the MEL, 42-21.

"They are ranked No. 1 in the Sac-Joaquin Section and No. 2 in the state of California," Sanchez said. "We wrestled really tough and won some close matches."

Isaac Blackburn went up a weight to 113 and won 2-1. At 138, Tanner Robison pinned his opponent in the thirdround. Patrick Neu won 9-6 at 160 pounds. Dylan Kainrath won a close decision 2-0. At heavyweight, Saul Meneses threw his opponent to the mat in the first round to get the pin.

"(Coach) Clint (Madden) and I are really proud of the team," Sanchez said. "They are a very young, talented team, who always rise to a challenge and compete with all they have. They were dominating in the SFL this year repeating as SFL champions and made it to the D-I semifinals. Along the way they won two tournaments and placed high at every tournament they wrestled in."

Now the team moves into more of an individual part of the season, with three qualifying tournaments to make it through to get to the California State Championships on March 1-2 at Bakersfield.

Next Saturday the SFL Championships Tournament will be held at Woodcreek High. The top four finishers will move on to the D-I Divisionals at Vintage High in Napa the following weekend.

The top eight finishers at Divisionals move on to the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters tournament at Stockton Arena the following weekend. The top seven finishers at the Masters tournament will make it to the State Championships.

"We are hopeful that we will get several state qualifiers," Sanchez said.